A leading pro-Israel political action committee urged its members to prevent Chuck Hagel from being nominated defense secretary, while a group of former U.S. diplomats endorsed him.

"The most outstanding thing about the Senator's record on the threats America and its allies face is the consistent solicitude he has shown toward Iran and the terrorist organizations and states it funds: Hezbollah, Hamas, and Syria," reads the model letter sent to members by NORPAC, the New Jersey-based committee.